Jay Leno Responds To Kimmel’s Comments: “Shut Up”

Jay Leno spoke about leaving “The Tonight Show” on “60 Minutes” recently, saying that while it wasn’t his decision, he’s happy with the network’s choice of replacement in Jimmy Fallon. But he also spoke about the bad blood between him and fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who hasn’t made it a secret that he disagreed with the way the Leno/Conan situation went down back in 2009 and has said that Leno “sold out”.

“Rich people whining and complaining? Shut up,” Leno said. “You make more money than 99 percent of the population and you’re complaining and whining. My job is to go out there and be a comedian.”

Kimmel famously took shots at Leno during a guest appearance back in 2010, right after the “Tonight Show” debacle happened, and Leno subsequently said he felt like he’d been “sucker punched”. He had the option to edit out the bit altogether, but he declined.

“I said, ‘No. Put it out there. I walked into it. You get right up again. You don’t whine and complain…Is it a joke? Is it funny? You know, Letterman and I have had a fun relationship because when Letterman says something, it’s funny.”

However, Kimmel did side with Leno on one topic early last year after rumors began circulating that NBC executives got angry with him over some jokes at their expense that he wanted to include in his monologue.

“I’m firmly on Jay’s side on that particular subject,” Kimmel said. “If that did happen — and I don’t know if it did — it seems like a very silly email to send. Talk shows have been making fun of their network and network executives for about 40 years now. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone.”